How do you make it out of Poverty? (Born Bright by C. Nicole Mason)

In C. Nicole Mason’s Born bright she talked about her journey out of poverty. As a child, her family struggled with living in poverty and all of the things that come along with it. Despite her financial circumstances, she was still able to go to college and become a successful writer. In her book she wonders how she made it and other’s did not, she knew plenty of smart, talented people that didn’t make it. That made me question what it takes to make it out of poverty.

Many people will say that education in the key to making it out of poverty and that is a valid point. The first person that gave C. Nicole Mason the idea of making it out of poverty and going places in life was one of her teachers. She was told that because she was smart, she would be able to make it. C. Nicole Mason’s education definitely played a part in her making it out of poverty but that isn’t the case for everybody. There are some people who are very smart who are not able to pursue their education because of their financial situation and there are people who still struggle financially even after getting education.

Some people would say that the key to making it out of poverty is hard work and that is another valid point. C Nicole Mason worked hard and she eventually became successful. Even without education, there have been people who have made it out of poverty by working hard. But hard work alone sometimes is not enough to escape poverty. There are people who work very hard and still struggle to make it out of poverty. There is often an idea that people that live in poverty are lazy but this hasn’t been true in the lives of people I know personally.

As I continued to think about ways to make it out of poverty, I thought about the fact that many people who make it out of poverty receive help or even just encouragement from somebody. I think that connections play a big part in making it out of poverty because we live in a society that focuses on who you know in many ways.

As we continued to discuss poverty and read the book I continued to think about making it out of poverty. I also thought about the possibility that there is no solid plan to make it out of poverty. Poverty is a system of oppression and in many cases it is not of matter of “making” it out of poverty but rather being allowed to escape.